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My Top 12 Favorite Phineas and Ferb Episodes

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Top 12 Favorite Phineas and Ferb Episodes

I first discovered Phineas and Ferb in late 2008, and I quickly fell in love with it, it becoming one of my favorite shows of all time. I decided to compile a list of my top 12 favorite episodes and share them with you all. (If any of your favorites aren't on here, I do apologize.) With further ado, let's get to it.


#12 Thaddeus and Thor

Phineas, Ferb, and Candace meet Thaddeus, Thor, and Mandy, a trio of sibling who are surprisingly similar to them. It does start out with Candace and Mandy treating one another like kindred spirits, both having younger brothers they find annoying. But then an argument about who has the more annoying brothers lead to them challenging their siblings to outdo the others. This is one of the times Candace encourages her brothers to build something (albeit for her own bragging rights).

And Doofenshmirtz's plot isn't one of taking over the Tri-State Area as normal, it too is about bragging rights. You can feel sympathy for him, when it looks like he'll have his moment of glory, it doesn't happen.

Finally we see the two groups unveil their work, I loved it when Phineas and Ferb completely blow the minds of their “rivals”. And for one of the rare times, their project isn't actually destroyed.  

I've thought it'd be cool to see Thaddues and Thor return one day, but Mandy did return in season 3, so that was nice.


#11 Oil on Candace
This is a very underrated episode (in my opinion) and sadly one of only a few in which Django Brown was part of the main plot. It was a nice story, Django wanting to impress his dad, but worried his art wasn't equal. But in the end, his dad is proud of him. (I'm hoping the Brown family gets more attention in season 4.)

And the plot of Doofenshmirtz trying to impress his former professor was funny, how he's thwarted at every turn, especially when he gets to Perry. Again, I feel sorry for Doofenshmirtz at the end of this episode.


#10 Traffic Cam Caper

This did a good job showing Candace's frustrations that her parents never believe her about her brothers' project. She soon finds out about a surveillance camera that has recorded all of Phineas and Ferb’s inventions, and plans to use it as evidence to show Linda and Lawrence what the boys have done. Candace pretty much breaks the law, “borrowing” the disc.

And it doesn't have the usual Perry vs. Doofenshmirtz plot. If anything Doofenshmirtz helps Perry here by letting him use Norm. I liked that it also showed more of the O.W.C.A., the little banter between Major Monogram and Carl, and Major Monogram even questioning why the OWCA agents are all animals, and I did laugh at the joke of about Agent T.

Now, there is an interesting moment when Perry takes the disc and Phineas and Ferb agree to help Candace get it back, even though they'd get busted, much to Candace's own surprise. (Phineas does say he'd do anything if it'd make his sister happen).In the end, Candace gets put into a position in which she has to choice between her urge to bust her brothers and her family. (And this isn't the last time this occurs.) After saving Phineas the following exchange happen:

Phineas: But, Candace, the disk. You didn't save it.
Candace: What? And let you fall? You may be a pain, but you are my brother.

And then the two share a hug. So it goes to show that even though Candace wants to bust her brothers, deep down she really does love them. Finally we do see Perry get the disc to Monogram and I loved his reaction to the “special” method of deposing it. I did like the ending in which Perry gets a favor, which he uses to clear up a minor traffic issue Lawrence has earlier in the episode. (I believe this is a point where it shows Perry does love his family.)


#9 It's About Time!

I like how this one was set in a museum, it was a nice change of pace from the normal home setting. We do kind of see what life may have been like for the Flynn-Fletcher family prior to Perry, what with the dog skeleton with the name tag “Bucky”. (Sort of makes me think of the Futurama episode, “Jurassic Bark”.)

When I first saw this, I really had no idea why Major Monogram was frozen and it was only until later I found out it's implied that he was hit by Doofenshmirtz's invention. It was funny how Doofenshmirtz was “cheating” on Perry with Peter the Panda, but I did question why Peter became Doofenshmirtz's nemesis. Then we get this talk show angle going with Doofenshmirtz begging Perry to come back, parodying a great many shows that actually have done that, which I thought, while it's been done, was funny. I did like how Doofenshmirtz pointed out Perry doesn't talk, and all the evil scientists in the audience all look at their animal foes.

I did get a good laugh out of the Fireside Girls building a new time machine, though initially it's a “Tie Machine”. What I found funniest was that it was exactly the same make, yet it's function was vastly different until they corrected it. And when Phineas, Ferb, and Candace are rescued, I do feel guilty about laughing at the time machine getting powered by a lightning strike, at Candace's expense. (Is it just me, or has the slapstick been toned down as the show has gone on?)

As usual, the songs were pretty good, “When We Didn't Get Along” and “My Nemesis” may even be on a favorite songs list, if I ever do one.


#8 Rollercoaster: The Musical!

How do you take the amazing first ever episode and make even better? Turn it into a musical. This was amazingly done, incorporating footage of the episode, piecing in new footage and dialogue, and most of all, the songs. A few of my all time favorite songs come from this episode, “You're Going Down”, and “Carpe Diem” being two of them.


#7 The Time Shift Episodes

I am cheating on this one, but it's just I loved all of them. Tri-Stone Area, I loved the characters all doing “caveman talk”, the stuff with Dan and Jeff in the photo-animation, and finally the caveman rendition of Gitchee-Gitchee-Goo. Doof Dynasty, it was a nice episode, but looking back on it, it was the weakest of all the Time Shift episodes to me. Excaliferb was an awesome episode, spoofing movies like The Princess Bride, The Lord of the Rings series, Neverending Story, and others, all in one story. Phineas and Ferb and the Temple of Juachadoon was another in a long list of Indiana Jones spoofs, and it did have a few major animation errors, but I found it every entertaining. I did wish it had been either a half-hour episode or had one more Time Shift episode that could've gone with it.


#6 Monster form the Id

This episode made me think of the movie Inception initially, but that was quickly set aside. It does show the depths of Candace's psyche. The song, to me, has to be one of, if not the, most trippy songs in all of the series. (I do have to wonder what Candace's Ego and Super Ego would be like.) I'll admit the only thing I didn't like was Irving's involvement. (He's just a pointless character for me.)


#5 Phineas and Ferb-Busters!

This is a great episode, it shows Candace, Stacy, and Jenny are an excellent comedy trio. I did see Jenny as a balance between Candace and Stacy, as she does tell Stacy helping Candace may get her over her busting urge after Stacy was focused on the color of her jumpsuit. The song and “bust camp” montage was fun and I loved the ending shot parodying Charlie's Angels.

With the Perry/Doofenshmirtz plot, it was nice to see Norm get some focus. I especially loved the line of “Now I know I have a heart, because it's breaking.” And we do learn he is squirrel powered, something I had a good chuckle out of that.


#4 Split Personality

Candace gets split into two Canadaces, one obsessed with busting her brothers and the other obsessed with Jeremy. That's why I loved this episode. The two aspects of Candace were humorous, but I did laugh at the Busting Candace more.

Busting Candace: Mom, Phineas and Ferb made me!

Linda: Um, I have some stretch marks that say otherwise.

There was also the part of Busting Candace doing an “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” style screech was a big surprise. But I did like Romance Candace as well, my favorite parts being her annoying Linda (to the point of Linda's eye twitching, loved that part).

The results of Doofenshmirtz's scheme were hilarious, I particularly liked the things with the sculptor and the surgeons.


#3 The Mom Attractor

Candace was pretty clever in this, have the boys create a device specifically designed to attract Linda, in order for her to see it. The song is a great tribute to moms everywhere and seeing writers of this episodes, Aliki Theofilopoulos Grafft and J.G. Orrantia, get lookalikes of themselves in it was a very nice touch.

There are little other moments of humor, like the way Candace plays with the binoculars at one point.

The song itself is a nice tribute to that special someone who does it all, Mom.


#2 The Fast and the Phineas

This was the very first episode of Phineas and Ferb I ever saw. Almost right away, I loved what I saw. When Candace first came on, I took an instant liking to her. She was a major part of why I fell in love with the show. Throughout the episode she made all these hilarious facial expressions and at one part she swoons over Jeremy and then actually slaps herself out of it. That's why Candace became my favorite character right from the start.

The Doofenshmirtz versus Perry plot also got me when I first saw this show. And this is one of the few episode where Doofenshmirtz doesn't say “Curse you, Perry the Platypus” so I didn't learn until later on that it was one of the signature lines of the series.


#1 Summer Belongs to You

This episode was just spectacular. The first ever hour long special and there were so many little moments of humor, and there were a lot of firsts here, for the first time Vanessa took part in a Big Idea, for the first time Isabella is shown to be actually full blown angry, (to the point she imagines her head exploding in rage) and for the first time Phineas is confronted with a problem he has no solution to. (I'll cover a little more on that in a bit.)

A part I enjoyed most, the moment where Candace and Jeremy officially become a couple. Both when Jeremy calls Candace his girlfriend and when they kissed at the end, I just about leapt out my seat and cheered.

But there are also moments where characters are at their lowest emotional points. In Paris, Candace is hit with the realization that Jeremy has a life aside from interacting with her and the idea that her actions were maybe crazy and obsessive, and she confesses that she feels her summer was filled with failures, until her brothers encourage her and remind her of what she accomplished. Isabella gets depressed after her failed attempt at getting Phineas to take in the sights of Paris. (“City of Love”, I'll cover that in a bit.)  And her low point isn't overcome until Phineas', which leads me back to the part with Phineas confronted with a problem he has no solution to, his breakdown was wonderfully done. In a feverish frenzy, he tries to find a method of getting off the island, but then...he actually gives up. And in that moment, Isabella encourages him, inadvertently  inspiring Phineas with an idea to get everyone off the island and back home.

The songs are excellent. I was surprised to see Clay Aiken and Chaka Khan perform “I Believe We Can”, “Jpop (Welcome to Tokyo)” was pretty random and went by quickly, “Rubber Bands, Rubber Balls” was a funny spoof of Bollywood films. “Bouncin' Around The World” was fun, and “City of Love”, like I said, was a pretty sad song.  At the end with “Summer Belongs to You”, it was an epic ending. Which does bring me to the joke of showing Perry still in Paris, it nearly killed the ending. But in spite of that, it was still an amazing, well written episode.


Honorable Mentions-Episodes that would on my list if I were to expand it to include more.
-Mom's Birthday
-I Was A Middle Aged Robot
-The Lemonade Stand
-For Your Ice Only
-Wizard of Odd

And that's it, my Top 12 Favorite episodes of Phineas and Ferb. (And Honorable Mentions) What do you think? I'd love to hear your top favorites, so please feel free to share them. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
A list of my top 12 (and honorable mentions) episodes of Phineas and Ferb.
© 2013 - 2024 BrigadierDarman
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mrentertainment's avatar
You posted this on the 30th anniversary of "Return of the Jedi".